Hot Water
by knelling
Summary: Warmth is the only thing that can relax Riza after a long day's work, but if there's one thing that Roy Mustang doesn't like, it's coming home to a shortage of hot water. [one-shot]


Riza returned home from work early that evening. When she opened the front door, Black Hayate was there to welcome her, wagging his tail wildly. She slipped out of her black trench coat, sighing with relief when she was free from its weight. Roy had given it to her as a gift on her most recent birthday. It was a strange gift for a man to give a woman, but Roy Mustang wasn't very good when it came to picking out gifts for anyone, no matter how well he knew them. He once gave Olivier Armstrong a large bouquet of pink roses to celebrate her birthday. Pink roses! To _Olivier Armstrong_ of all people! Luckily enough for Roy, Riza was less precise when it came to gifts. She accepted the large jacket without complaint given that she didn't particularly care for clothing. In fact, Riza _never_ rejected any of his presents out of fear that she would have to listen to him nag about it.

"You should be more thankful," he would probably say. "I spent forever trying to buy the perfect gift for you and you're being so ungrateful. I can't believe I wasted three and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back trying to picking out something so special for such a dire woman."

The very thought of it was enough to make her cringe. He was the worst when it came to pushing down on the sympathy button. When he whined like that, it was out of an attempt to make her feel guilty. It never did work, but it was always good for amusement. Riza smiled to herself as she hung the jacket up in the closet. Roy could be such a child sometimes.

Black Hayate licked Riza's right hand, breaking her train of thought. It was his way of saying that he was hungry. Riza frowned when she saw that his food bowl was empty. Roy must have forgotten to fill it up before he left for work this morning. It was his chore only because Riza's schedule required her to show up to work an hour and a half before he did. She wished that the higher-ups could switch their schedules so that she could properly care for Black Hayate. When she was living in her own apartment, she left him enough food and water to last until she came home. Roy was terrible at remembering such trivial things, but Riza couldn't hold it against him. As the Brigadier General, he was up to his ears in assignments. It wouldn't be too surprising if he forgot every once in a blue moon, but these days he was forgetting every single morning.

Riza found the dog food hidden behind stacks of canned goods in one of the lower cabinets. She poured a hefty amount into his food bowl and then filled up the other with fresh water. Once she finished carrying out_ that_ little chore, she went to her bedroom and began removing her uniform. She often heard other officers complain about how the uniform was difficult to put on and off, but after years of continuously climbing in and out of it, Riza could undress in less than five minutes. She gathered up the mound of clothes she left on the floor and dropped them into the laundry hamper, then hurried to the bathroom.

It was all a part of Riza's daily routine. No matter how late she came home, she always made it a point to take a hot shower before doing anything else. Only the heat could comfort the orphaned woman when she was feeling downhearted, whether it came from the water pouring out of the faucet or the man lying next to her in bed. The poor little thing often felt weary from the heavy workload her job required her to complete each day, and running hot water over her scarred body was the only way from to keep it from withering away. Nevertheless, Riza Hawkeye wasn't one to complain. Instead, she hid the stress and frustration from everyone around her in order to project a collected façade. She was one of the military's most prominent members, and she couldn't afford her fiery attitude to ruin her chance of future promotions.

She scrubbed away at her skin ferociously. After completing the necessary tasks that came along with being a female, such as shaving off any unwanted body hair, Riza climbed out of the shower and dried off with a burgundy-colored towel hanging on the handrail. Once she was done, she wrapped the towel around her body and sighed with relief as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. There was a smile on those soft lips, and the brown eyes staring back at her were soft and tranquil. Now that the anxiety slipped out of her system, she could sleep peacefully tonight once she finished the rest of her household tasks.

Riza was surprised to see Roy entering through the front door when she stepped out of the bathroom, under the assumption that he wouldn't be home for another hour or so. He was hanging up his jacket when she first noticed him.

"You're home early," she commented.

"I completed the paperwork a lot sooner than I thought," he chuckled.

Although he had his back turned to her, Riza could tell by the uneasy laughter that he was lying. She rolled her eyes and walked away. "You didn't finish it," she sighed.

Riza locked the bedroom door behind her so that she could dress without any interruptions, which was difficult to do when living with Roy Mustang. After moving in together, Riza discovered that Roy was far more playful than she'd known him to be. When he was feeling mischievous, he always seemed to catch her in the middle of changing or showering. Whether or not it was coincidence was still a mystery.

He tried to open the door when she in the middle of buttoning up her dark blue blouse. When she didn't immediately answer, he continued to twist the doorknob repeatedly. Judging by his persistency, Riza could infer that Roy was shocked that she would lock him out of the bedroom they shared together. His reaction was only natural given that couples weren't supposed to hide things from each other. This was the first time Riza ever shared a home with a man, and admittedly, she was still having trouble adjusting to this married lifestyle. Of course, she and Roy couldn't _lawfully_ get married due to the military being against fraternization, but there was no rule saying that they couldn't live together. After they found out they couldn't get married, they ultimately decided that moving in together would suffice until Roy held the power to abolish the law that forbade matrimony between officers.

Riza finally opened the door after she finished buttoning up, expecting to find him leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. Instead, all she found was a pile of discarded uniform garments that was on Roy's back only a moment ago. Before Riza could begin to come with a good reason as to why his uniform would be laying in the middle of the floor, she heard him turn on the bathwater. Sighing, Riza bent over, gathered the disorganized pile of clothes on the hardwood floor, and disposed of them properly. After finishing yet another chore of Roy's, she prepared for the trip to the market.

As she passed the bathroom, she knocked on the door lightly. "I'm going grocery shopping; I should be home within an hour or so."

"Sure thing!" he said, loudly enough for her to hear over the thrashing water.

As Riza was sliding into her leather shoes, she heard the creaking of a knob followed by sudden silence, both coming from the bathroom. She turned her head halfway to gaze back at the door. It was unusual of him to jump in and out of the bath so quickly. Not minute second passed before the door abruptly opened, revealing a nearly naked Roy Mustang, only covered by a towel unkemptly wrapped around his waist. Riza fought the urge to laugh when she noticed that he only shaved half of his mustache off, but she managed to control herself. He was clearly irate, and yet the only thing Riza could manage to say was something so obvious and that is only infuriated him more.

"You're dripping water on the floor," she informed him.

"I know I'm dripping water on the floor!" he exclaimed.

"What are you so angry about?" she asked. It might have been a silly question to ask, but Riza really didn't have a clue.

"The same thing as usual," he growled. "You've somehow managed to use all the hot water again!"

Riza furrowed her brow and rose from the couch. The look she shot him must have caught him off guard, because he stumbled back as if she were going to hit him. "You seem to be lacking in common sense, Brigadier General. If there's no hot water left for you to enjoy your bath, then simply use your flame alchemy to warm the water. I'm amazed you haven't figured this out yourself."

Roy's eyes widened as if he had a sudden stroke of genius. Instead of retreating to the cold bath and following her instruction, he remained rigid, as if this plain but priceless piece of advice turned him to stone. Riza didn't wait to see what he would do next. It was only after she stepped through the threshold and into the warm summer night that he regained composure. After he fell back into the tub, he began boiling the chilly water to a much warmer degree.

* * *

**A/N:** I've always had a theory that they would bicker over the supply of hot water, so I wrote this little piece out of a desire to portray it. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
